Cliff Notes

When the history of this period is written, the question of what was in Mitch McConnell’s head for the last 48 hours — and what contact he had with John Boehner about it — will be vitally key.

When the Senate measure hits the House floor, to state the obvious: watch how Paul Ryan votes.

If the bill passes, the Republicans will have suffered a substantive loss, and a PR one. And part of why they lost the substantive fight was because they lost the earlier PR battle. So: as conservatives regroup, it will be interesting to see how they try to figure out how to be stronger on public relations and media strategy in dealing with the debt ceiling, spending cuts, Social Security, and a potential government shutdown.